‘Theresa May will publicly criticise claims made by Britain’s most senior police officer that a rise in knife crime is linked to falls in stop and search, branding them as a “kneejerk reaction” and “false”.’
The Guardian, 21st October 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Speech by the Lord Chief Justice (PDF)
Temple Women’s Forum, 19th October 2015
Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk
‘The president of the Queen’s Bench Division has branded quotas as “demeaning” to women and minority ethnic groups.
Sir Brian Leveson (pictured) waded into the controversial debate over quotas ahead of the publication of a government-backed report that could put law firms under new pressure to promote women in senior posts.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 12th October 2015
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Sir Brian Leveson, President of the Queen’s Bench Division gave the Caroline Weatherill Lecture “Justice for the 21st Century” in the Isle of Man on 9 October 2015.’
Courts and Tribunals Judicairy, 12th October 2015
Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk
‘Lord Sumption claims rushing to achieve equality could damage the judiciary.’
Full story
Daily Telegraph, 21st September 2015
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘On Monday 27 July 2015 Clive Coleman from the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme spoke to judges about diversity in the judiciary.’
Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 8th September 2015
Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk
‘Despite recent initiatives, the legal profession remains a bastion of white, middle-class, privately educated males. So what can be done to make it more inclusive? Harriet Swain reports on a roundtable debate.’
The Guardian, 14th July 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘Solicitors were the least successful group of people applying for judicial appointment over the last six months, and the situation is getting worse, the latest figures from the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) have shown.’
Litigation Futures, 4th June 2015
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘The Judicial Office has launched a pilot programme to improve the diversity of the High Court bench and encourage more applications from senior lawyers and legal academics.’
Litigation Futures, 9th April 2015
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘In 2009, when asked by the then Lord Chancellor to look at judicial diversity, Baroness Neuberger said: “Judges drawn from a wide range of backgrounds and life experiences will bring varying perspectives to bear on critical legal issues. A judiciary which is more visibly reflective of society will enhance public confidence.” Although it would appear that even 6 years later, not a lot has changed.’
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 9th March 2015
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
‘In April 2014 Sadiq Khan, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, asked Karon Monaghan QC and Geoffrey Bindman QC to review the options for a future Labour Government to improve diversity in the judiciary. On November 6th their report, entitled “Judicial Diversity: Accelerating change”, was published. Starting from the premise that “[t]he near absence of women and Black, Asian and minority ethnic judges in the senior judiciary is no longer tolerable”, it proposes a range of recommendations designed to speed up the glacial pace of change. Perhaps the most controversial of these is for the introduction of a quota system for women and BAME candidates. The report reviews the use of quotas in other UK institutions as well as their use in judicial appointments processes around the world, before addressing the question of whether such quotas would be lawful under EU law. This is a key question: EU law casts a long shadow in this context, as the Monaghan and Bindman report makes clear, given that any legislation enacted in Westminster to give effect to a quota system in the process of judicial appointments must conform to the requirements of EU law.’
Full story
UK Constitutional Law Association, 12th November 2014
Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘There is to be a drive to recruit retiring law firm partners to the senior judiciary in a bid to improve diversity, it has emerged.’
Legal Futures, 14th November 2014
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘A quota system should be introduced to address the under-representation of women and ethnic minority judges, a major independent report commissioned by the Labour Party has recommended.’
Full story
Litigation Futures, 6th November 2014
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘One of the founders of the Black Solicitors Network (BSN) has called on the legal regulators to consider introducing quotas and targets to promote diversity.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 30th October 2014
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The UK judicial system lags well behind the rest of Europe in terms of gender balance, according to a study of the relative efficiency of justice systems published on Thursday.’
The Guardian, 9th October 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
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